Fried Berry Rhubarb Pie

Flavored with berries, rose water and cardamom, this {VEGAN} Fried Berry Rhubarb Pie is Rhubarb like you’ve never had before.

No, I’ve never eaten Rhubarb before. I’m not even completely sure we have rhubarb in India – maybe it’s grown under a different local name, but I don’t recall ever seeing the scarlet red stalks in the markets growing up. And after I moved to the States, come Spring, it was rhubarb-this, rhubarb-that everywhere, except the very first thing I learnt about them was that their leaves are toxic.

If I were a child raised on Rhubarb, that fact would have had no effect on me; after all, potatoes, tomatoes and eggplants come from the nightshade family and I dearly love all three of them. My kitchen (and my world) would come to a standstill without tomatoes and a life without eggplants and potatoes seems quite dreary.

But the knowledge that this strange and unknown thing was part of a plant that was generally shunned as toxic, put me off. What if I were allergic? I’ve never eaten it, for all I knew, I could be. I stayed clear of it for several years. Until now. Older, bolder and slightly wiser, I picked up a few stalks from the store this time and braved a raw taste as soon as I got home. Tart, oh so tart! It was crunchy like celery, with such a sharp and intense taste, but the second I took that first bite, I knew why it was almost always paired with berries. The tartness of the Rhubarb would bring out the subtle sweetness of the berries and compliment the flavor profile quite nicely. I knew I had to make a pie to taste for myself what my brain already knew.

I love this time of year – it seems like the very air smells of berries and flowers. But instead of making a traditionally baked pie, I decided to make a Fried Berry Rhubarb Pie flavored with cardamom and rose. Floral notes are meant to be paired with berries, don’t you think? Usually, vanilla and ginger are what goes great with Rhubarb, but when have I ever followed rules when it comes to food? And did I mention carrots? Yup, there’s carrots in there, because I just couldn’t help sneaking in a vegetable into this mix. Did you know that Rhubarb is actually a vegetable, but was reclassified as a fruit to reduce tariffs?

The filling was the easiest thing to make. A handful of berries (I used strawberries and blackberries here, because I had them in the fridge), chopped rhubarb and delicately shredded carrots melted on the stove within a few minutes. The berries blistered their juices under the onslaught of the heat and my constant poking and prodding. My kitchen was soon smelling sickly sweet – it didn’t help that I stirred in a little sugar to help improve the sickliness.

Once the berry compote had cooled down a bit, I stirred in crushed cardamom seeds and a few drops of rose extract. The thing about adding flavors into foods, especially with desserts, is that you want to add them after the mixture has cooled down. Adding extracts to hot foods makes the extract loose its potency. Of course, this doesn’t apply to infusions.

While the filling was cooling, I made the pastry. This one is simple – not exactly pie crust, but something else. I borrowed the idea for the casing from Indian Samosa. If you’ve had one of those, you’ll know that the texture is almost like a pie crust, but less flaky and more crisp.

It’s just a matter of binding flour and water – I seasoned the casing with cardamom too for good measure and sweetened it a touch. The dough formed itself in just a few minutes of kneading, and I let it rest in the fridge while the filling cooled.

Then came the point where the pie needed to be assembled, dough shaped and wrapped around the glistening ruby red filling. I wanted something exquisite, this being an extraordinary pie and all, so decided to shape the hand pie with a lattice crust. A little more work, yes, but when you see that final result, it’ll make it all worth it. So, if you’re making this for guests and special occasions, take the time to lattice the casing. Otherwise, just fold in half and crimp the edges to keep it simple. Either way, it’s going to be delicious.

Fried pies are a southern specialty – the North Georgian foothills are sprawling with orchards and farms and I am lucky to be just a few hours south of it. So every time we take a trip towards the mountains, we take a mandatory pit stop at one of the farms for a quick bite of these delicious pies that come in a myriad of fruit fillings. Apple and Peach are our preferred options, but the rest are pretty delicious too.

While the idea of deep frying a pie might sound ridiculous to you, trust me, despite how much I detest the smell of oil clinging to everything in the home, I am a firm believer that some things are just too deliriously delicious, that it warrants the discomfort and I, too, cave in a few times during the year for them.

There is more than one way to cook these:

Heat the oil to a low-medium heat – lower one pie into the oil and keep ladling oil on the top until the bottom turns golden brown. Flip over and cook until the other side turns golden brown as well. Drain on paper towels.

Heat the oil to a medium-high heat – lower one pie into the oil, and cook until the bottom turns golden brown. Flip and cook the other side till it turns golden brown as well. Transfer to a baking tray lined with paper towels. Preheat oven to 425F/220C. Repeat with all the other pies. Transfer all the pies to the baking tray. Bake at 425F/220C for 10-15 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack before eating.

Note: After deep-frying anything, baking them very briefly at 400-425F on paper towels draws out the excess oil much more efficiently, resulting in a crispier (and not soggy) end product.

Savor the sweet and fragrant filling in a sinfully crisp wrapper – this Fried Berry Rhubarb Pie is best eaten the same day they were fried but can be reheated in the oven the next day, but the subsequent reheating might turn the filling inside a little less luscious.

And as always, a generous dollop of ice cream or whipped cream won’t hurt it one bit either.

When you make this delicious VEGAN Fried Berry Rhubarb Pie (which I really think you SHOULD!), be sure to SHARE YOUR PHOTOS with me through Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. I’d love to see what you cook from here!

For the filling

Instructions

Make the filling

In a small mortar and pestle, crush the cardamom pods until the seeds are crushed. Discard the green pod skins. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine the fruits: rhubarb, strawberries, blackberries and carrot. Cook on medium-low heat until the fruits blister and release their juices. Keep smashing the fruits to help release the juices and to help them cook faster.

Add sugar to the fruits and let it reduce to a syrup. Remove from heat and stir in the almond flour. Let cool completely before stirring in the crushed cardamom and rose syrup. Set aside.

Make the Pie psatry

In a small mortar and pestle, crush the cardamom pods until the seeds are crushed. Discard the green pod skins. Set aside.

In a bowl, combine the flour, salt, sugar and crushed cardamom seeds. Add the vegetable oil and keep rubbing the flour with the oil until it resembles wet clumpy sand. Add the cold water and knead to form a dough.

Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Assemble the pie

Weigh the chilled dough and using the kitchen scale, divide into 8 equal pieces.

Take one piece of the chilled dough (refrigerate the rest while you work on it) and roll into a square about 1/8" thick.

Cut the square in the middle to form two rectangles. Place one rectangle over the other perpendicular to each other, to form a '+'.

Place a few spoons of the filling in the center and fold the left and bottom flaps to seal the filling inside.

Using a knife, slice the other two flaps to form 4 strips. Work the strips into a lattice pattern and tuck the ends under the shaped pie. (see video in post)

Chill the shaped pies for a few hours or overnight. (optional)

Fry the pies

Heat oil over medium-low heat in a medium pan for deep frying. Deep-fry the pies on medium-low heat until golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels.

Serve warm or cooled to room temperature. Best eaten on the same day they were fried.